When Tayshaun Prince tries to post up anyone taller than 6-4, the result is almost invariably a forced hook shot or turnaround jumpshot from him or a forced 3 point attempt from the wing player on his side of the floor (usually Rasheed). It's true that he rarely drives out of control into a triple-team to try some crazy off-balance floater, but the result is the same: a low-percentage shot that frequently triggers the opponent's fast break.

One of those is an isolation on Jason Williams (definitely shorter than 6-4) and another is an excellent example of "finishing". The only one of those that is really a counterexample is the first, where James (a terrible defender) was attempting to take away the middle and force him into a baseline trap; unfortunately for James Varejão's rotation was well late.

One of those is an isolation on Jason Williams (definitely shorter than 6-4) and another is an excellent example of "finishing". The only one of those that is really a counterexample is the first, where James (a terrible defender) was attempting to take away the middle and force him into a baseline trap; unfortunately for James Varejão's rotation was well late.

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So James sucks, and Varejao is slow. Williams is short, and Mourning's help defense doesn't count. I couldn't see what the play was against the Celtics, but Battie is definitely taller than 6'4".

Tayshaun is now the 5th option on offense. I think he has pretty good low post skills, we just don't see him used much in that capacity.

I'm not arguing that Prince is the greatest SF in the paint, but I don't think he is the second coming of Micheal Curry either.

In my game report, I confused the start of a different game with this one. Webber did not score at all to start this game. What I was misremembering is the several times we went to Sheed to start the 2nd half.

From the detnews on Sheed:
"Rasheed is a great player," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, whose team had won three straight before Sunday. "When he exerts the level of force on the game that he is capable of, he's as tough a player to deal with as anybody in the Eastern Conference."

went to the game - roads were terrible so the crowd got there a little late. since people did a good job with the caps, i'll throw in my other thoughts:

- the nicest thing about having webber is that we are getting off to fast starts and early leads. before, my friend and i would always complain about us starting down 8-0, 12-4, etc., but with webber we're jumping out early.

- mike dunleavy is the ultimate opportunist. he only scores when his teammates can break down the defense and give him a wide open three. he is no better than mo evans, and i can't believe he's making tay money.

- i was really annoyed with flip's substitutions in the 2nd quarter. our bench only dropped 2 points off the lead (from 15 to 13), but flip threw chauncey, rip, and tay back in around the 6:30 mark (i think) if not sooner. there was no reason to take the bench out and make our starters play more minutes there. if our bench was giving up a run, sure, put the starters back in to stop the bleeding...but this was not the case.

- troy murphy -21, dunleavy -29. wow bad. marshall was +29 heh. all of our starters were +, and all of our bench were -.

- except for dice early, the bench had a horrible game. maxiell had nothing going and was a foul magnet. and while yes, our bench could use improvement and a proven scorer, they just had a bad game collectively like our starters often have. they can't be perfect every time. if that becomes a pattern i'll worry more.

- with both webber and sheed, JO couldn't guard both of them, and this was huge. it's going to be a really big advantage in the playoffs since most teams don't have 2 quality big men up front to play the kind of defense necessary to contain both webber and wallace.

Chief Webber had a real nice game just filling the cracks in the paint with put backs and nice ball handling. With the Pacers and JO in particular forced to help on interior defense, Chief rarely had a body on him. He took advantage with seven offensive rebounds.

JO got it rolling in the fourth as the Pacers tied the game up. Everything ground to a halt after JO picked up his fifth foul. Around the same time Murphy and Dunleavy re-entered the game and you could see the Pistons' energy change. They were licking their chops to get the ball on offense.
JO was forced to return with four minutes left but couldn't be as aggressive on defense and the Pacers couldn't get closer than four points. Chief Webber had a real nice game just filling the cracks in the paint with put backs and nice ball handling. With the Pacers and JO in particular forced to help on interior defense, Chief rarely had a body on him. He took advantage with seven offensive rebounds.

Juicy
Also Flip Saunders and Tony Dungy were roomys for a while back at the U of Minny.